Contributed by Marianne Heater
We are getting our annual fake out February here in Southern Oregon and my beehives are coming alive. Bees are out foraging on alder, hawthorne, early blooming rosemary and crocus. They are busy bringing in pollen that is creamy yellow in color as well as gray and bright orange. That is a good sign!
Now is the time to check those hives that look dormant. If you have a hive that does not have any activity you can do several things. First, if the weather is warm, like we have had this first week of February (temperatures in the mid 60’s), you can open your hive and do a quick inspection. Don’t procrastinate, we will get another bout of wet, cold weather. This is the perfect window to do an inspection.
If it’s a bit cooler you may want to use a stethoscope to listen for signs of life. Bang on the side of the hive. You should hear buzzing if they are in there. If you don’t hear anything and you open the hive and bees are in there, chances are they are not robust and are in need of an emergency feeding, so don’t worry so much that you shouldn’t disturb them.You may be giving them their last hope! Feed them!
*First and foremost – if you do discover a dead hive you need to deal with it as soon as possible. If you leave it unattended, you will have a bigger mess on your hands. The decaying bee carcasses stink and draw in other pests. Wax moth can ravage comb that you may want to salvage and ants will devour any honey stores that you have left. Your empty hive may get robbed by an aggressive neighboring hive or yellow jackets. They will chew any usable comb and destroy valuable assets.
Be aware that before you use the comb or honey left from a dead out you will want to assess why the bees died and make sure it was not from a contagious disease that you will then spread to other hives when you use the salvaged comb or honey stores.
*Make sure you take notes about the dead hive. Note the time of year that the hive has died.
If your hive died over the winter it may have died from starvation, condensation caused by a lack of ventilation, or viruses. Cold temperatures may have permeated the small cluster mass or kept the cluster from being able to move to the food source within the hive.
When checking a dead out, if you see bees with their heads in the cells and rear ends sticking up they may have died from starvation. They were trying to get the last bits of food from the cells. Even if food was right above them or to the side this can still happen when it is too cold to break cluster. Make sure that your winter food stores are situated correctly, directly above and to the sides of the brood nest. Use it as a learning experience and make sure next fall you leave plenty of food on your hives for the bees situated correctly. Sometimes a hive just doesn’t flourish. It happens. Document it.
Nosema is also common in the winter when bees cannot get outside to take a cleansing flight to defecate or to haul debris and dead bees out of the hive.
If your colony was not big enough going into winter it could be that the bees did not have enough mass to create enough warmth to withstand the bitter cold temperatures that we had in December. Remember in the Fall we want to create a robust colony of “fat” healthy bees going into winter with plenty of food stores in the pantry!
If you find mold on your combs it means that this hive could have been killed by excess moisture, or that the hive has been dead for awhile and the bees were unable to care for the hive. Try to give your hive ample ventilation and make sure you are not in a boggy area. Consider using a ‘quilt box’ next winter to absorb the excess moisture generated by the bees keeping warm. Bees can handle cold, but not wet.
*In the early Spring and Summer bees can be subjected to pesticide poisoning. Do you see lots of dead bees at the front entrance with their tongues sticking out? This is sad to witness. Nasty chemicals are easily available to unassuming homeowners who spray blooms to discourage bugs. Little do they know they are killing your bees.
You can take a sample, freeze it right away and send it in for testing. Freeze the combs if they are full of pollen. It is difficult for test labs to accurately test samples if they are not fresh, as the chemicals dissipate quickly. You can submit a sample to the Bee Lab in Beltsville, Md to test for this. It is free for US residents and will take a few weeks to get results back.
Spring can be a time when bees cannot get out to forage due to bad weather conditions. Make sure you check to see if your bees need supplemental feeding in the early Spring or if there is an early dearth at the beginning of summer. These conditions make it so your bees need some help with either syrup, drivert or protein pollen patties. Keep an eye on the weather and blooms for your area and time of year.
*If it’s late Fall and your hive has perished it may be due to Varroa collapse. This is the most common reason for dead outs. Late summer and early fall is when the Varroa mite population is usually the highest. Check your records. Did you check and treat for mites Spring and Fall? Do you see deformed bees with missing or deformed wings? This is a virus spread by Varroa called Deformed Wing Virus. (DWV) Its main vector is the Varroa mite. It is named after the most obvious deformity it causes in the development of the honeybee pupa, which is shrunken and deformed wings, but other developmental deformities are often present.
Examine your bottom boards for signs of mite drop. You can see them with the naked eye, they are the size of a small pin head. If you use a magnifying glass you can see their legs and you know you are looking at a mite! If your hive has perished and you see signs of mites it may be due to Varroa Destructor or by the viruses they bring to the bees. Make sure you get on a regiment of checking and if need be, treating your hives.
There are many types of treatments available. Some are less chemical than others and my personal preference is a rotation of the least toxic.: Formic Acid (Mite Away Quick Strips or MAQs), Thymol (Apiguard) and Oxalic acid drip.
An infestation of varroa has far reaching implications – your hive can become a Mite Bomb. Your diseased bees visit neighboring hives and spread this nasty parasite. Be a responsible beekeeper not a bee reaper!
Remove old comb from your hive on a scheduled basis. Old comb contains pesticide residue and pathogens and can adversely effect the health of your hive.
How do I clean my hive?
- Take out the frames and bang them against a board or table to dislodge the dead bees that are stuck in the comb. Use a brush to clean debris; poop, dead parts, etc. from the comb.
- Brush out the boxes and store them staggered so that they are ventilated and preferably in some kind of light to discourage wax moth. I sometimes wipe the hives out with vinegar if I notice mold or a general unsavory look.
- Check for other diseases. Foulbrood, Chalkbrood all need tests done to determine if your hives have them. If you are at all suspicious ask for help, some of these diseases are difficult to eradicate and need drastic measures. We don’t want to pass diseases to our other hives. Be diligent.
- Take all the usable frames and put them in the freezer for 48 hours. Store the frames so that molds and fungus do not destroy your comb. You can use a container with a tight lid, or store them so that light hits the frames and discourages wax moths and mold. Make sure you check these combs periodically. You don’t want to create a hothouse for wax moth larva to incubate or for mold to grow.
- Many beekeepers prefer to store dry comb that they have let the bees lick clean any remaining honey before the end of the season. If you are putting comb back on the hive so the bees clean it up make sure the bees are not yet in their winter cluster and that they have a couple of weeks to work on them before closing up the hive for Fall/Winter. The supers are placed over the inner cover, under the top cover, preferably from the hive that they came from. This keeps bees from refilling them, unless they are crowded and have nowhere else to go. This also keeps your frames guarded from other insects or animals.
- Some beekeepers prefer to put the comb out in the open and let it be a bee free for all with the clean up, swearing that if you put comb back in a hive bees will fill it up with something.
- Some beekeepers keep the comb in the freezer until they need to use it to supplement a hive or start a new hive off in the Spring. And there is more than one way to skin a cat! Ask a group of five beekeepers a question and you will certainly get ten different answers. Be your own researcher.
- I like to store my boxes with Para-moth in my storage facility to keep wax moth out as well as mice. You don’t need to use much! Unfortunately, it is so strong smelling that it can dominate all of the wonderful good smells of the wax and honey. I like to use a separate room for this purpose. I don’t use a lot of it. It’s a good preventative. Once having a hive decimated by wax moth will make you a vigilant wax moth larva detective!
- I love the smell of honey and wax, not the smell of Para-moth!! About a week before I put them on the hives, I will unstack and air them out, real good That’s essential if you’re using Para-Moth as it can kill your bees just like it kills the moth. Beware.
- Clean up around the hive stand. Get ready to use this equipment again when you get your nuc in the Spring. Don’t think you have to go burn your hive equipment just because a hive died in it. Unless it’s Foulbrood you can certainly use your boxes for years to come! Clean up your equipment and start over. That’s how it works.
- Lastly. Don’t be discouraged if you are a new beekeeper and you found a dead hive. We know how it feels. It’s an unfortunate part of the learning process. Ask a more experienced beekeeper for help. Get involved with your local chapter, Southern Oregon Beekeepers Association. Attend workshops and bee schools to learn more about the fascinating and wonderful world of beekeeping!
If it is European Foul Brood or American Foul Brood, combs may need to be irradiated, discarded or burned. It is best to speak with an apiary inspector to find out what the rules are in your state for treating this disease. Bee Informed has photos of European Foulbrood and American Foulbrood.
More information on dead outs:
How to Autopsy a Honey Bee Colony
Brood Comb Management and Treatment of Deadouts
I Prepped my Honey Bees for Winter, But the Died. What Happened?